BCB Resolution 082/2024 on Virtual Assets

The operative text is short. Article 1 states that BCB Board Resolution No. 144/2020 of December 15, 2020 is left without effect. Article 2 provides that Resolution 082/2024 enters into force from its publication. Article 3 directs the BCB to include conceptual information and risks associated with virtual-asset operations in its Economic and Financial Education Plan. Article 4 assigns communication of the resolution to the BCB General Management.

The BCB’s public notice explains the policy result more directly: the repeal enables use of electronic payment channels and IEP for purchase and sale operations involving virtual assets. For readers, the measure is best described as a payments-access and regulatory-perimeter change, rather than as a comprehensive authorization of crypto activity. It is also a useful marker for the transition from a restrictive central-bank position to a supervised, risk-disclosure approach.

The resolution cites Bolivia’s monetary, payments, financial-services, fintech and AML/CFT framework, including the Constitution, Law No. 901 on the boliviano, Law No. 1670 on the BCB, Law No. 393 on financial services, Law No. 1543, Supreme Decree No. 4904, FATF standards and the GAFILAT mutual evaluation of Bolivia. The cited GAFILAT context is important because the BCB describes virtual-asset and virtual-asset-service-provider activity as already occurring in Bolivia, while recommending consideration of PSAV regulation consistent with Bolivian public policy.

Resolution 082/2024 does not make virtual assets legal tender. The BCB states that the boliviano remains Bolivia’s only legal-tender currency, that a virtual asset is not legal tender or cash, and that the public is not required to accept virtual assets as a means of payment. The central bank also states that inherent risks from use and commercialization of virtual assets are assumed by users.

This boundary matters for legal interpretation: Bolivia did not adopt crypto as money. A more precise formulation is that Bolivia rescinded the 2020 BCB restriction and enabled regulated electronic payment instruments to be used for virtual-asset purchase and sale operations, while maintaining the boliviano’s legal-tender status. The distinction also separates payment-channel access from questions of tax treatment, custody, securities law, consumer claims or exchange licensing.

BCB Resolution 082/2024 was coordinated with the Autoridad de Supervisión del Sistema Financiero (ASFI) and the Unidad de Investigaciones Financieras (UIF). ASFI later issued Circular ASFI/827/2024 and Resolution ASFI/637/2024 on July 1, 2024, putting in force amendments to the regulation on issuance and administration of electronic payment instruments related to virtual-asset use. In 2025, Bolivia also adopted Supreme Decree No. 5384, which regulates Empresas de Tecnología Financiera and defines virtual assets, blockchain, tokens and Proveedores de Servicios de Activos Virtuales (PSAV).

The current status should be classified as “In force” because the resolution became effective upon publication and official 2025 BCB materials continued to discuss Resolution 082/2024 as an operative policy basis. The resolution should be read alongside later ASFI and executive-branch fintech rules, which may be more relevant for licensing, registration, consumer protection or PSAV operations than the BCB resolution itself.